Maoists pose biggest security challenge: PM

TNNDec 21, 2007, 03.28am IST

NEW DELHI: Conceding that the increased focus of terrorists on soft targets like public transport systems and religious places has left no one fully immune from terror attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday called upon the states to fight terrorism with precise and actionable intelligence while also improving their surveillance and preventive systems.

Also underlining Left-wing extremism as a continuing single biggest security challenge, Mr Singh, in his address to the day-long annual meeting of chief ministers on internal security here, sought strengthening of the police force in the affected states, joint operations involving proper co-ordination between contiguous states and choking of funds flow to the Naxalites.

It is to facilitate these joint operations in contiguous states that the proposal for a dedicated anti-Naxal taskforce was discussed at the meeting, Union home minister Shivraj Patil later told newspersons. The proposal was endorsed by several chief ministers.

Even as the prime minister discounted the notions of a red corridor extending from Nepal to Andhra Pradesh, he was candid enough to admit that the extremists had enlarged their area of influence and were not only carrying out frontal attacks on policemen but also targeting economic infrastructure to sustain their ideology of deprivation and neglect.

Calling for improved policing capabilities in states affected by Left-wing extremism, Mr Singh said: "We need to fill vacancies as a matter of priority...I would also urge States to establish specialised, dedicated forces to fight Left Wing Extremism...while tackling Naxal groups militarily, we also need to choke their support infrastructure. Forest operations, tendu patta operations and contractors in interior areas are particularly vulnerable to extortion. We also need to ensure that essential economic infrastructure is protected and the tempo of development activities is increased."

While recalling the terror attacks in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, UP and Punjab, the prime minister warned that there was no limit to the reach of the terrorists given their strong networking across states and even beyond international boundaries. "The reach of terrorists is such that no one can say that they are fully immune from such attacks," he noted and called upon the states to strengthen their intelligence gathering capabilities so as to generate actionable and precise intelligence - "the key to fighting terror."

Also, given that terrorists have of late been focusing on soft targets like public transport systems, religious shrines and crowded public places, the Centre on Thursday told the states to spruce up their surveillance systems and have the preventive mechanisms in place to reduce the probability of terror attacks.

The prime minister also struck a word of caution against home-grown terror outfits that offer logistical support to the bigger, more organised groups. "While the actual perpetrators of terrorist violence may belong to a few known organisations, we need to guard against their attempts to recruit local sympathy and support," he said.